Frozen Peas
by FlyingBoar
Summary: Percy takes a break from camp and decides to hunt monsters in the woods for a little fun. However he runs into an old...friend, and is forced to face a horrifying truth. Set after Heroes of Olympus. I wrote it before house of hades came out, so the relationship between Percy and Nico isn't romantic, but you can read it however you want to.


**(AN) This is actually part of my Chew with your mouth closed story, it is a prequel.**

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Percy walked between the tall trees, keeping an eye out for monsters. He'd ventured into the woods at Camp half-blood for some sport, maybe to fight a small dragon or something.

Things at Camp were pretty quiet, and Annabeth was at archery class, so he'd decided to hunt up some fun.

After a while, the woods started to grow thicker as he strolled into the more monster-populated part of the forest. The noon sun filtered down through the leaves hazily as he climbed up on to a boulder for a better look around.

He was just climbing down when he heard panting and racing footsteps crashing through the underbrush towards him. He readied his sword and prepared to fight when a dark figure burst through the trees and went hurdling past him.

Confused, he chased after the person, until he was lost. Percy stood, listening. The footsteps had stopped. He was about to shrug and move on when he heard panting coming from one of the trees.

He held his sword up and warily paced through the trees, nearing the sound of the heavy breathing.

Suddenly, a sword lashed from behind one of the trees, and a figure jumped out, slashing.

Percy yelled, startled, and parried the midnight black sword just in time. Wait... "Nico?"

Nico stopped wildly swinging at him, and stared at him, panting.

Percy looked at Nico. He had definitely seen better days. His jeans were torn at the knees and it looked like he had been bleeding from several places on his leg. His hair was a mess, twigs and leaves and blood and dirt caked into it. His face was pale and more gaunt than usual, and Percy wondered if he'd eaten anything in the last month. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, crazily staring at him.

The moment of confusion lasted a few seconds before Nico grabbed Percy's sleeve and started to pull him after himself into the forest.

"Percy! They'll kill us! I'm dead! I've been fighting them for weeks! We have to get away!" he rasped, his voice panicked as he tried to drag Percy after him.

Percy decided that whatever could scare Nico di Angelo that badly was nothing he ever wanted to meet. He ran after Nico, deeper into the woods until Nico stopped and hid behind an outcropping rock, catching his breath.

"Nico, what's chasing us? How do we fight it?" Percy asked worriedly. He looked out from behind the boulder, but he didn't see them coming yet.

Nico breathlessly shook his head. "We can't! They're too strong! Percy... It's them!" he cried, looking behind the boulder in sheer terror. He scrambled out, running farther away.  
Percy didn't see whatever it was coming yet, but Nico was scared out of his wits like it was bearing down on them.

Nico turned and screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, yards from where Percy was standing.

Percy still couldn't see them. Were they invisible? Nico flailed on the ground, shrieking in agony as he was attacked.

Percy rushed forward, slicing at the invisible monsters attacking Nico but...he didn't hit anything. Nico swung with his sword at the air, still yelling, before scrambling to his feet again and trying desperately to run, instead being pulled to the ground by an invisible force again.

Percy tried to hit the invisible monster again as Nico screamed hoarsely and struggled, but it was like he was hitting air. He was on the verge of panic, as Nico made sounds like he was being ripped open, when a horrible realization dawned on him. He wasn't hitting anything...because there wasn't anything there.

Nico's long bony fingers scrambled in the dirt, as he crawled away from the monsters, only to start shrieking in anguish again.

Percy stared at him for a long moment, shocked, before rushing over and pulling the son of Hades up. Nico thrashed and screamed still, kicking at the dirt with his feet as Percy tried to carry him away.

Nico broke free and swung at Percy with his sword, almost gutting him. When Percy saw his eyes, they held the panic of a cornered animal.

"Nico!" he called as Nico slashed at him again. "It's okay! There's nothing here! You're safe!"

Nico snarled and swung again. He spotted something behind Percy and took off again, before stumbling and lashing out blindly with his sword as he writhed in the dirt.

Percy was more terrified of this than he would've been of real monsters. He stood there dumbly as Nico shrieked on the ground, trying to figure out what to do.

Finally, he rushed forward and swung his sword butt at Nico's head as Nico clawed at the ground, his eyes spinning in their sockets. The pommel hit his head with a THWACK and Nico's eyes rolled upwards as he went limp.

Percy was more freaked out then he could ever remember, but he tried to swallow his panic to start dragging Nico towards camp. The kid had gotten heavier, but Percy wasnt about to leave him here, so grunting, he heaved him on to his back and trekked back into camp.

The son of Hades was unhealthily skinny, so he managed to make it back to the valley in good time.

He staggered out of the woods near the dining pavilion, but luckily, it was empty, so he didn't attract eyes as he stumbled up to the big house.

He burst through the doors of the Big House, trying to get Nico into the infirmary.

He had interrupted Dionysus's card game. Mr. D sat in his obnoxious leopard print hawaiian shirt with Chiron playing pinochle, but frankly, Percy didn't care as he carried Nico into the infirmary, throwing him down on a cot.

Mr. D and Chiron stood in the doorway now, Mr. D looking bored, Chiron looking concerned.

"My boy, what's happened here?" Chiron asked, trotting forward. Percy almost didn't want to tell him, because he didn't want to believe it. He had seen Nico deteriorating recently, though he hadn't said anything. He had heard the same voice arguing with itself in the Hades cabin late at night on the rare occasions that Nico visited. Telling Chiron would be like making it true. But he knew that it was already true, and that it had probably been true for a while.

He relayed what had happened, staring numbly at his shoes.

Chiron sighed, like he had known all along. Mr. D yawned.

Percy turned to him, barely containing his anger. " Mr. D, this is your area of expertise. Can't you do anything?"

Mr. D shrugged. "Well, fine Perry. But don't say I never did anything for you." he grumbled, when Chiron looked at him sternly.

Mr. D put his fingers on Nico's forehead for a few seconds, before sighing and removing them.

"Well?" Percy asked. "Is he cured?"

Mr. D shrugged. "Patience, patience. No. This isn't my brand of crazy, brat. This isn't an illness I can cure."

"What? Why?" Percy exploded.

Dionysus glared at him with his red pudgy face. "Watch your mouth, Johnson. It's not so much a problem with his mind, that I could fix easily. No. His soul is devouring itself. There's nothing anyone can do."

Mr. D strolled boredly out of the room. "I'm in the mood for burgers today, I think."

Percy stared horrified at Nico. Chiron laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, saying nothing.

Finally Percy shambled out of the Big House and into the sun.

Some time in the afternoon, he and Annabeth trained in the sword arena, because Percy seriously needed his nerves calmed down. He hadn't told Annabeth yet. So they sparred one-on-one until they were interrupted by Chiron cantering into the arena.

"Percy!" he called. "Your friend Nico is awake, if you'd like to speak with him."

Annabeth looked at him, confused. "Nico's here?"

Percy turned to Chiron. "Is he-you know..."

Chiron shook his head. "He's calmed down, if that's what you mean."

"Percy, what's going on?" Annabeth asked, tailing him as he walked up to the Big House.

Percy didn't answer her, until he stepped into the room where Nico was.

Nico was sitting on the edge of a cot, facing away from them. He was holding a bag of frozen peas to his head, probably covering the developing lump from where Percy had hit him.

"Nico?" he asked quietly.

Nico looked around casually. "Hey Percy."

Percy walked farther into the room, Annabeth following him.

"Hey, uh Nico..." Percy started. He had no idea how to talk to him. Nico was so distant most of the time, hardly ever seeing anyone. In the past years visits had dropped to almost zero.

Nico looked at him. His eyes were all broken glass and black fire.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "What happened to your head?"

Nico grinned humorlessly. "Percy hit me with a sword. Long story."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "And I guess no one is going to tell me?"

Percy sighed. "I'll tell you later." he looked at her apologetically. "Hey, Annabeth, do you mind leaving us alone for a couple minutes?"

Annabeth glared at him and stalked out, hating to miss out on something important.

Percy cleared his throat. "So, Nico...I think we need to talk."

Suddenly, Nico leaped off the edge of the bed, his face contorted with fury, his eyes alight with crazy intensity. "You're going to say I'm nuts, right? I'm not! You don't know how it feels! Like acid crawling under my skin! Everyone abandoned me! Because when I touch someone, they want to throw up! So don't stand here pretending that you're not repulsed, I know you are! Everyone is! You don't know what it's like in here! She tells me my worst nightmares, and nobody else can even see her!" his hands moved wildly as he talked, illustrating his rant.

His eyes were burning bright and broken, like he was melting. Percy was about to say something, but Nico stepped into a shadow and disappeared.

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**(AN) So anyway, This story is a prequel to my Chew with your Mouth Closed story, BUT it can also be read independently. It actually ties in with another story that i'm too much of a wimp to post as well.**


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